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Toontrack present EZDrummer 2

New drum kits, interchangeable elements, and song creator added

Toontrack have endeavoured to improve their exceedingly popular EZdrummer software without making it more complicated, and early indications suggest they’ve done it. We reviewed the original EZdrummer software back in July 2006 and liked its user-friendly interface and cost-effective expansions.

Now, Toontrack have announced a significant update in the form of EZdrummer 2. 

The update adds a completely new sound library comprising five new kits, and a plethora of alternative snares, kicks and cymbals recorded by the Grammy award-winning Chuck Ainlay at British Grove Studios in London. Also, EZdrummer 2 now allows you to mix and match any instrument in your previously installed expansion libraries, meaning you can create custom kits from scratch using content you already own. And, usefully, you can expand your library with Toontrack’s huge range of EZX expansions without a massive outlay.

EZdrummer adds its own ‘Song Creator’ that lets you drop your grooves into a timeline within the software without having to open your DAW. There’s also an intriguing new feature called ‘Tap2Find’, that lets you tap in your desired rhythm then automatically lists all the closest matches, for creating realistic patterns quickly.

And in addition, there are new export features that allow you to drag your entire song to your desktop or into your DAW, and even to convert to audio. Then, there’s a new feature called 'power hand' that can be dragged to any drum or cymbal to instantly change the element that is leading the groove, giving EZdrummer 2 a more human feel.

With the 'Amount' parameter, you can control the number of hits on a single drum or on the whole kit, in real-time. This is applied intelligently, using an algorithm based on thousands of drum performances, and adds or removes the hits that a real drummer would be most likely to. This same control applies to a brand new percussion section featuring rhythms designed for cowbell, claps, snaps maracas, cabasa and tambourine.

EZdrummer's audio engine has been overhauled to provide real-time sample rate conversion, a greater number of individual hits per velocity layer, reduced loading times and a feature for smoother sequenced hits called Multiple Hits Emulation. 

The software is due to ship on May 6th and should cost £105$179. We'll bring you a review in SOS as soon as we can.

https://www.toontrack.com/news.asp?id=285

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